Life is Good

This week has gotten off to a terrific start.  Another beautiful stretch of weather coupled with happy kids at home (school vacation week) are the prime culprits.  Monday, I did a late lunch run with Dan.  I thought I might do a long run alone, but he was more than willing to accompany me.  We ran the 2+ miles of pavement (2 mile split 14:54) to our regular Ryan Park trail loop.  The trails have completely dried out except in one particularly dark section - I have a feeling it's going to be a pond for a while.  I wasn't sure what sort of pace we would do, but Dan answered that by keeping it slightly uncomfortably fast.  When he wasn't leading, I would jump ahead to keep it going.  We did an estimated 51:30 for the 7 miles of trails, which is a respectable time when we only do just the 7.  This was going to be a good 12 mile time!  I pushed ahead on the roads to keep up the pace.  Dan rejoined me and we added a couple of more side streets to get the overall mileage to exactly 12.  Our total time was 1:28:11 - good for a 7:20 pace.  We were really happy about this one! 
Tuesday, my legs were feeling tired and sore.  Another one of my coworkers who likes to run occasionally was interested in doing a shorter run with me at a relaxed pace.  We headed over to Rome Point.  The parking lot was packed.  Not a good sign.  But, we stuck to the lesser known single track trails and only ran into a few people and some older friendly dogs.  We ran the rocky beach for a stretch and didn't realize what sort of wind we were heading into.  This made things a bit uncomfortable and my legs felt really tired.  Once we hit the trails and found ourselves on a downhill section, my energy returned.  We ran for 42 minutes - about 5.5 miles. 
Perhaps the highlight of my week though, is the amount of time I got to spend outside after work with my family.  This is how I envisioned life 5 years ago, before my first child was born.  I pictured coming home and seeing everyone outside, then hiking, playing, riding bikes, etc. together.  It has taken a few years, but the time has come!  My son, now 4 1/2, and daughter 2 1/2, are really enjoying their time oustide.  We have scoured our 3 acre wood for emerging lady slippers (probably have found about 20).  We have found new places to climb rock outcroppings.  They have become interested in finding and observing bugs.  We also have been visiting a nearby pond.  Monday night, we brought a bottle and collected some tadpoles.  We'll let them grow for a while and then return them.  Here's a couple of pics: 

Both nights, we haven't gone inside until 7:30, and by then, the kids (and parents) are ready for bed.  My plan is to do a short run and/or play basketball today in anticipation of my trail run tomorrow with BoJo (who is in town for the week).  So far, so good!